We Will Be Friends Forever
by Demosthaeanes
Summary: Lief, Jasmine, Barda, Sharn, Doom. Five extraordinary friends. They'll live to face tough trials, good times and lots of laughter. But will they stay friends...forever? That's for you to find out, and for me to determine!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Deltora Quest. If I did, I wouldn't be on right now, would I:) enjoy, peeps! another school. lol.**

**Chapter 1: Introducing...the **_**Cool**_** Group!**

Lief was sitting in his mother's car, staring at the window glumly. His mother was taking him to the new school. They had recently moved from Tora to Del ever since Lief's father had died. His mother now couldn't afford a good school so she was sending him to a boarding school. And apparently it was a boarding school with LOW standards. So that meant: bullies, weird boys and girls, making out and worse.

Suddenly his mom stopped the car, interrupting Lief's thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Lief asked. He glanced out the window again and saw that they had arrived at the school. "Oh, never mind."

"We're here," his mother said, with a mournful smile. She didn't want Lief to leave, but it was the only way to get him educated, she reminded herself. She turned and kissed Lief on the forehead. "I'll miss you soo much, Lief!"

Lief scowled. "Yeah, whatever. I'll miss you too." She hugged him again, said goodbye three times and kissed him again. Then Lief got out of the car. His mother drove away. Lief slowly started to walk through the school to the locker areas.

A boy looked at Lief and said, "Hey, you're not familiar. Who are you?"

"My name is Lief," Lief said. "I'm new here. Could you please tell me where the lockers are?"

The boy laughed. "Are you a prep or something? Ha ha! You act like one, that's for damn sure!" His friend slapped him on the back and they rolled on the floor, laughing. Lief shrugged inwardly and continued on.

Lief was walking aimlessly when he accidentally bumped into a tall and menacing boy.

"Oh, I"m sorry!" Lief said.

The boy looked very angry. "Why you little jerk! What did I do to you? And for no reason, you bump into me! Watch where you're going, weirdo!" He grabbed Lief and threw him against the wall.

Right then a girl's voice said, "Hey Ranesh, he's a new kid. Leave him alone."

Ranesh turned and saw a group of boys and girls - the Cool Group, standing behind him. They were Marilen, Sharn, Jasmine, Barda and Doom. They called themselves the Cool Group and they always hung out with each other. Apparently they had come to the defense of the new boy.

"Who cares if he's new? He bumped into me on purpose!" Ranesh whined. The girl who had talked was Marilen.

"It was probably an accident!" Jasmine said angrily.

"Yeah, and anyway, it doesn't account for what you just did to him," Barda said.

Ranesh glared at them. "You guys are idiots. This is a free country. I can do what I like!"

Marilen shook her head, sighing. "You're too stupid to know anything, Ranesh."

Ranesh glared at her and walked off with his friend. Soon they were gone. Lief got up and looked at the group of students who were staring at him curiously.

"Thanks," Lief mumbled.

"No problem," Doom said.

"You didn't say anything!" Sharn complained to Doom.

"Well, neither did you!" Doom said, laughing. He smiled at her and turned a little red. Lief decided to ignore this crush for the moment.

"Shut up, Jarred!" Jasmine said to Doom, using his real name. She was his little sister and they were pretty much sibling rivals. They fought over everything all the time.

"Quit fighting!" Barda yelled. Then he turned to Lief. "So...you're new here, huh?"

Lief nodded. These guys were kind of cool. He found himself wishing he could be a part of their group.

"How come you came to Del?" Jasmine asked. "Not to be personal or anything."

Lief shifted uncomfortably and looked at the ground. "Um...my father died and my mother and I couldn't afford to live in Tora anymore so we moved here."

"Oh," Marilen said. There was an awkward silence. Then she said brightly, trying to cheer things up, "You know, Ranesh, that mean boy, he's my brother. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Lief bit his lip. "Well...I used to. But...my sister died." He looked in another direction as to not see their surprised faces.

Jasmine shoved Marilen. She gave her a look that meant, _Don't ask anymore personal questions! _

Marilen nodded.

Lief glanced back at them. "Do you know where the lockers are at?" he asked, trying to change the subject and trying to find someplace to put all his stuff. He looked hopefully at them.

"Yeah," Barda said. "Come on we'll show you."

Sharn walked next to Lief. "You know, my name is Sharn," she said. "I don't believe we even introduced ourselves. What is your name?"

"Lief," he said.

"Oh," Jasmine said. Then, on instinct, she said, "What a nice name."

Barda kicked her and she yelled, "What was that for, you idiot?"

Lief looked at her. "Who, me?" He semed alarmed.

"No, him! He kicked me for no reason!" Jasmine cried out angrily. She kicked Barda back. He kicked her and she kicked him. It went on like this for a while.

Lief finally coughed. "Um...can you PLEASE show me where the lockers are? I'm getting tired of hauling this stuff around."

Barda stopped, embarassed. "Oh yeah, about that." He walked on a little bit and showed Lief the lockers. "Here's an empty one. You can put your things in this one."

Lief put his things in and closed it. "Thank you so much," he said.

"Your welcome," Marilen said.

There was a silence. Doom cleared his throat.

"I guess...it's time for math, isn't it?" Jasmine said, checking her watch. "Yeah, it is."

"Okay. Bye then," Lief said, starting to walk. "See you sometime." He waved slightly and walked off, feeling a bit nervous still. He felt the eyes of every student on him as he walked.

The Cool Group stood staring at Lief as he walked off.

"He's pretty cool," Jasmine said.

"And handsome," a girl passing by said, overhearing Jasmine. "I mean, seriously, he's really, REALLY hot. Blond hair and blue eyes...cute highlights in his hair...smooth tanned skin..."

Marilen nodded vigorously. "Yeah, you're right. He's cute!"

Jasmine nodded too. "He's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo CUTE!"

Sharn said, "Yeah!" simply.

Then Doom cleared his throat again. "Ahem! I think we should be getting to math now?"

They ran to the math classroom. Lief was sitting in the back corner, looking gloomy. He was scribbling something on a piece of paper. The Cool Group got seats close to him, in the back.

A girl behind Lief bent over and said, loudly so everyone could hear, "Hey, I like your shoes."

Lief was confused for a moment, but then said, "Thanks. What's your name? I'm new here, so I don't know." He added, "My name is Lief."

"I'm Josephina," the girl said. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," he said. He flashed her a smile and turned back around. He didn't notice the girl putting a hand to her heart and looking dreamily into the air. She said dreamily to her friend, "He smiled at me. He smiled at me."

Then the math teacher came in. He did rollcall and started to give out some papers for the class to do. When he came to Lief's desk, he stopped.

"Oh, class, I forgot to tell you. We have a new student. His name is Lief. I'm sure I can trust you all to be very nice and welcoming to him today."

Lief took the paper and scanned the problems. It was advanced algebra. They all looked hard. He scribbled some answers down and turned it in to the teacher.

Lief walked quietly back to his desk and waited for everyone to finish. Then finally they finished. Then the whole class waited for the teacher to check their test papers, most of them dreading the "F -" mark they were about to get.

Then the teacher got up. His face was stern as usual. "Class, I am very dissappointed at these test scores. Only one of you has gotten an A! The rest of you all got Fs!"

The teacher handed out the papers. It turned out that Marilen had gotten the A. Lief stared down gloomily at his big fat red F on the test. His mom was going to kill him.

Finally, after an hour of lessons and tests, the students were dismissed for soccer class. "I hope we will do better tomorrow!" the teacher called as they left. "Good job, Marilen!"

Lief went to the changing rooms and put on soccer clothes. He smiled happily. He loved soccer. At his last school he had been the soccer captain from the day he started school. He wondered if this school had a captain already. He walked out to the field.

"Hello, everybody, I'm Coach Stevens. I'll be the soccer coach. As you all know, we don't have a soccer captain yet and we need one. So we'll be having a game of soccer. The judges will watch every single one of you and determine who will be the soccer captain."

"Where are the judges?" a kid called out.

Coach Stevens gestured to two burly men and one stiff woman. They were sitting at a table out of the field, sipping some water glasses. The woman was fanning herself.

Lief smiled inwardly. So they didn't have a captain yet! But he looked at some of the kids. At his old school, everyone was his age. But some of the students at this school looked bigger than him. He felt a sinking feeling. He couldn't be the soccer captain with these people to face! Why had he been so idiotic not to think of that?

"Well, split evenly and let the game begin!" Coach Stevens said. A while later, after the teams were chosen, he blew the whistle and the game started. The judges had clipboards ready, to take notes.

A while into the game, the first man judge said to the other, "That little kid is playing very well, you know. He has sportsmanship _and_ he plays well." He scribbled a note on his clipboard.

"What little kid?" the other man asked.

"Oh, that little one with the blond hair and blue eyes. He's quite short, but height doesn't matter in this. And look at his leadership! He even congratulated that girl who hit it into their own goal."

"And look at him," the woman said. "He's congratulating the other team! And he's quite handsome." The judges continued talking highly about Lief.

Jasmine was standing forlonly in the middle of the field. She was opposite Lief's team, much to her dislike. Suddenly she saw the ball come to her. She ran for it...ran for it...and hit it! She kicked the ball, but it certainly hit the wrong target.

The ball hit Lief hard in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. The coach blew his whistle and ran to Lief. Some people crowded around him, too, as always happens when someone gets injured in a game.

"Are you okay, Lief?" Coach Stevens asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lief muttered, getting up. He felt a little shaky. He glanced around. "Who kicked it?" he asked aloud. But he found his answer when he stared at Jasmine's crimson face.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Sorry, it was an accident!"

"It's okay," Lief said.

The game started again. The ball came to Lief and he passed it to Josephina, who was on his team and who happened to be standing by him. She kicked it blindly and it went back to Lief, almost hitting him in the face, but he dodged it. It went over his head and came to Barda's feet. Barda kicked it high in the air and it landed near Jasmine, who kicked it. It didn't go very far and a girl came up and kicked it, hitting Lief's foot. Lief shrugged and kicked the ball, moving a little as to bend it. It went swiftly into the other team's goal and landed his team another point, ending the game. 25, Lief's team, 5, the other team.

The coach blew his whistle. "Wonderful game, wonderful!" he said. "And now we find out who is the captain!"

Lief was breathing hard. He had been hit by the ball several times. He grabbed his side, which was paining him greatly. He gasped as a ball hit him hard in the same side. He groaned and stumbled.

Doom caught Lief before he fell. "Hey, are you okay, man?" he asked, helping him up. "You don't look so good."

Lief said breathlessly, "I'm okay. Thank you." Embarrased at looking weak in front of cool Doom, he straightened himself out as best as he could. Then he awaited to hear who was the soccer captain.

One of the men judges stood up. He said in a deep voice, "You all did very well, but we could only choose one of you. There was only one of you who standed out the best for sportsmanship, leadership, well playing and a variety of other things. But I don't want to keep you in supsension, so I'll just tell you. The soccer captain of the Deltora Dragons for this new year is:

Lief!"

Everyone cheered Lief and applauded him. Lief smiled weakly. He was still happy he was soccer captain, of course.

"Very well done, Lief!" Coach Stevens said. "Now, as you all know, this is a varsity team. You will be competing against other schools. That includes the Rithmere Rangers, the Pirran Pipers, the Large Leopards and many other ones. Oh, and we have a new team that we will begin to compete with. The Toran Thunderbolts!"

Lief gasped so loudly that everyone looked at him, alarmed. But Lief took no heed of them. His mouth went wide open. The Toran Thunderbolts were the same exact team he had been playing in! How could he compete against his old friends from Tora?

As the coach dismissed the students, the Cool Group caught up with Lief.

"So what did you go nuts for?" Sharn asked.

"Huh?" Lief mumbled, not fully there. He was still thinking about his old friends from Tora

"Yeah, what happened there?" Jasmine asked. "You like, just started gaping at Coach Stevens, like you saw a ghost or like he had just said he was going to, like, kill you or something."

Lief shook his head. "No, I...I just...I thought of something, that's all."

"You thought of something?" Barda asked, rolling his eyes. "Okay, so if you thought of something, what'd you think of?" he said, laughing.

Lief glanced at him. "Um...well, I told you already that I used to go to school in Tora...and...well, I used to be soccer captain there and I just don't feel like competing against my friends there."

"Oh, that is true, it's probably not fun to compete against your old friends from Tora. But...you have to, I guess," Marilen said lamely. She fingered her hair thoughtfully.

"Not helping, Marilen," Jasmine muttered.

:Erm...what's the next class?" Lief interrupted. "I think we better go if we don't want to be late."

"Music," Doom sighed. "I hate music class. Jasmine's the only one among us who likes it. She's crazy for music." He clearly expressed his opinion of music for a few more minutes.

"Darn it, music," Barda sighed. "Well, we better go if we don't want to be late."

"Do you like music?" Marilen asked Lief as they walked into the music room, taking seats.

"Er...no," Lief said, avoiding Jasmine's piercing gaze. "But...I guess I could try it out."

"Good!" Jasmine said, clapping her hands. "I love music!"

"Great," Lief muttered. He took a seat between Marilen and Jasmine.

"Alright, class," the music teacher said, clapping his hands. "What a great day it is! Ah, let's see...oh yes, a new student, if I may say, class of talented music players! Welcome Lief to our class!"

"Now," he said, as the class finished cheering, "Lief, you can play the keyboard. I am Mr. Lopez. You will call me Mr. Lopez. Understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Lopez," Lief muttered, walking over to the keyboard.

"Okay, class, so we have been learning the Jingle Bells song, haven't we? But Jasmine here knows it already, doesn't she?" Lopez said.

"Yes, sir!" Jasmine beamed.

"Wonderful!" Mr. Lopez said, beaming at her too. "Now why don't you go show Lief how to play the song? Everyone else, practice the song! Start!"

Jasmine jumped up from her place at the piano and skipped joyfully to Lief, smirking at all the girls, who were extremely jealous.

"Okay, Lief, so, let me show you how to do it," Jasmine said. She began to teach Lief the Jingle Bells song.

Lief walked tiredly out of the music room, alone. Jasmine had been tough and definitely not as lenient as he had hoped for. She had driven him ruthlessly until he knew the keys by heart and could play easily.

Suddenly the Cool Group surrounded him, laughing and talking.

"Hi," Lief said timidly to Doom.

"Hey dude," Doom said, taking out his I-pod and starting to listen. "Whaddya think of music?"

Lief made sure Jasmine wasn't listening. "Terrible. Absolutely horrid."

"Yeah, you're the man!" Doom said, slapping him on the back. "Yeaaaaaaa!"

"Hey, you guys, let's go on that chat room tonight," Barda said quickly, talking to the Cool Group. "You know, the teen chat ."

Lief, feeling excluded, began to pretend to tie his shoes so they could pass him.

Surprisingly, they stopped as he tied his shoes. Lief looked up at them and saw that they were silent, waiting casually for him to finish.

"What're you...doing?" Lief stammered.

"What do you mean, 'what are we doing'?" Sharn said. "What do you think we're doing?"

"What are you waiting for?" Lief demanded.

"You, of course!" Marilen said, looking a bit irritated.

"Why?" Lief asked.

Marilen stared at him blankly. "Er...what are you talking about? Because you...are our friend...is that a good answer?"

"I am?" Lief asked, startled.

"Er...if you want," Jasmine muttered. "If you don't want to..."

"No, I just thought...don't you have some sort of group?" Lief mumbled, standing straight up.

"Yeah, and you're in it," Doom said lazily. "If you wanna be."

"I can?" Lief asked, more suprised. "Don't you only pick...er..._cool_ people?"

"It's a privilege to have you," Marilen said quickly. She blushed. "I mean, you're really cool!"

"So, what was I saying?" Barda said, changing the subject as they headed to the cafetaria. "Oh yeah, teen chat. So, can everyone come on at...hmmm...6:30 tonight?"

"Yes!" they all chorused except for Lief.

"How about you, Lief?" Barda said. "Teen chat at a 6:30 tonight?'

"What is it?" Lief asked.

"A really cool chatroom where you can put in smileys and other crap," Sharn replied. They all laughed.

"Um...what time did you say?" Lief asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"6:30," Jasmine repeated.

"Oh," Lief said, looking crushed. "I er...I promised this friend of mine...an old friend in Tora...that I was going to chat with them on the General Chat at 6:30."

"Fine," Barda said. "How about we do it at...when will you finish chatting with him?"

"Maybe 7:00," Lief said. "But-"

"Then 7:00," Barda said, "it's settled."

"I _can't_," Lief said. "I'm sorry. I've got to call someone at 7:00."

"Who?" Doom asked curiously, tapping his foot to a hip-hop song.

"My er...friend," Lief said, turning red. "I'm really sorry. I promised. Just do it at 6:30. I just won't be there."

"But you should!" Jasmine urged him.

"I can't," Lief whispered. "Sorry!" 

"It's okay," Marilen said quickly. "We understand." She gave Jasmine a look.

"Let's be under our real names," Jasmine said. "It's easier that way."

"Deal," the others all said.

"Coolio!" Sharn yawned. "Let's eat."

Lief sighed and followed them into the cafetaria, wishing a teeny bit he hadn't told his old friend he would call him.

Lief sighed as he walked out of the school gates with the others. The day was finally over, and luckily they all had no homework. But it had been a long day and he was tired.

"So, we're all under our first names, and we'll be on at 6:30," Barda was saying.

"Yeah," Jasmine said. "And Lief is going to be in the General Chat, so we can't talk with him."

Lief saw his mother's SUV car come up into the parking lot. "I've got to go," he said.

"Bye Lief!" they all said.

"Bye!" he called, and ran to his mother's car and hopped into the front seat, closing the door behind him. They began to drive.

"How was your first day of school, honey?" his mother asked him.

"Good," Lief mumbled. He waved to Marilen, who was waving excitedly at him as the car passed by.

"Who is that sweet little girl?" his mother said.

"A friend," Lief muttered.

"That's wonderful," his mother, named Sarah, said. "Any other friends?"

"That group of kids over there," Lief said, indicating them.

"That one with the baggy pants looks like a punk," Sarah frowned, looking at Doom.

"No, he's not," Lief said. "He's just cool."

Sarah looked at her son's pants. "Since when did you put holes in your knee caps?"

"Since today," Lief replied. "I got put as soccer captain."

"That's great, Lief!" Sarah smiled. "I'm so proud of you! Fath-"

"What?" Lief demanded as she stopped. "What about Father?"

"Nothing," Sarah said quietly. "Never mind, honey."

Lief opened up the Internet on his computer and went to Google. It was 6:28, and he was going to chat with his Toran friend. He was about to click on General Chat when the door opened. It was his mother.

"What, Mom?" Lief asked irritably.

"William called," Sarah said. "You know, the friend you were going to chat with now. He's got to take his dog to the vet, so he couldn't go on the computer."

"Oh, thanks," Lief said as his mother left, closing the door.

"Any time, honey!" his mother called, her light footsteps sounding.

Lief instead clicked on Teen Chat and hesitated when it asked for his username. He put in "Mournful Stranger" on a sudden whim, and went into the chatroom. It was 6:31.

This is what he saw:

**Barda : Hey, Cool Group here?**

**Jasmine : Yip Yip HOoray! Barda!**

**Barda : Anyone else?**

**Marilen : Uh-huh**

**Doom : YO!**

**Sharn : Hiya!**

**Hotboy: Who the hell are you guys?** Lief noticed here that it was not a private chat, and many other people were on the chat too, besides the Cool Group.

**Barda : People. And you are?**

**prettygrl: who wants to do it with me?**

**Doom : Me! not...**

**One...two..three! : Hi room!  
**

**Sharn : Hello world!**

**prettygrl: I need some luvin'**

**Marilen : Get out you wrong person! **Lief noticed that the chat room had edited a bad word Marilen put on it.

**Jasmine : No cussin' sissy!**

**Hotboy: Any cute girls wanna cute guy, dark brown cute hair, mohawk, tattoos all over...I bet you are drooling...**

**Marryme : Not really.**

**Barda : Wanna dance?**

**Sharn : Barda, don't be an idiot.**

**Hotboy : Do I know you, Sharn? I think we dated.**

**Sharn : Get out you goddamn freak!**

**Mournful Stranger : Hello **Lief finally typed in.

**prettygrl: hey, pretty boy**

**Mournful Stranger : Uh...yeah. Whatever. **

**Jasmine : I wish Lief was on. **Lief smiled happily and decided to conceal his identity.

**Mournful Stranger : Who is Lief?**

**Marilen : the cutest boy i ever met**

**prettygrl : he's mine!**

**Hotboy: He's me!  
**

**One...two...three : Computer's lagging**

**Mournful Stranger : This. is. weird.**

**Doom : Cool. Wanna be in the Cool Group online? if there was one...ha!**

**Marryme : Mournful Stranger, marry me. What is your real name?**

**Mournful Stranger : I'm a stranger. I'm a stranger forever. I'll never reveal the hidden name.**

**Marryme : Marry me! I'm a girl! Very pretty! **

**Mournful Stranger : Go away.**

**Barda : You're cool, Stranger.**

**Mournful Stranger : I didn't know strangers were cool. **

**Marilen :)  
**

**Sharn : HA HA! You are funny Stranger!  
**

**Mournful Stranger : Not really.**

**Doom : I think...oh crap. Ranesh is on.**

**Ranesh : Yeah yeah yeah, Ranesh is in the house! YO YO YO!  
**

**Nick : YO bro!**

**Ranesh : Shut up.**

**Chris : YO YOU YOUR! **

**Bsketblldude: yo yo yo gimme some basketball!  
**

**Kam : Basketball is my passion!  
**

**Marilen : That's great. Now go away. This is a private chat. Let's make this a private chat. Only the Cool Group may come in.**

**Doom : Mournful Stranger can come if he wants.**

**Mournful Stranger : My fingers hurt from typing.**

**Kam : Can I come? I'm cool. Yaaaaaaaa! **

**Doom : No.**

**Chris : Come to our bskqetball groooooooooooooooope. it's grooooooooooovy!  
**

**nick : Yo that is coolio! **Lief suddenly saw his username moved to a private conversation called "Cool Group".

**Barda : People, are ya here?**

**Doom : Yes**

**Marilen?: Totally**

**Jasmine : Yeah!  
**

**Sharn : Definitely!  
**

**Mournful Stranger : I guess.**

**Barda : Ha ha you're funny Stranger. funnier than these idiots.**

**Jasmine : barda you meanie!**

**Mournful Stranger : Er...guys? I'm er...Lief.**

**Jasmine : Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa??????????????????? muuuuuuuuuuh?**

**Doom : WHat the bloody hell!  
**

**Marilen : Liar!  
**

**Sharn : Kick 'im off the chat! he's a liar framing the good name of Lief!**

**Mournful Stranger : Wait! Hold on, lemme explain. theToran friend of mine called and said he couldn't talk to me, so I came on her and talked to you guys. sorry i didn't tell you before. **

**Barda : I think we should still kick you for keeping secrets. All in favor?**

**Mournful Stranger : I said I was sorry! **

**Marilen : Don't kick him, you idiot! **

**Mournful Stranger : I'll leave if you want. **

**Jasmine : NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  
**

**Doom : Don't listen to Barda. He's a jerk. Aren't you, little Barda, baby boy?**

**Barda : I'll kill you for that Doom. tomorrow at school...**

**Mournful Stranger : I think I'll go to bed...**

**Sharn : Yeah right. at six thirty?**

**Mournful Stranger : I mean, i'm going to...er...uh...crap.**

**Marilen : Ha ha!**

**Jasmine : Hee hee!  
**

**Doom : Do we have music tomorrow? Please say we don't!**

**Sharn : No, we've got music.**

**Barda : Damn.**

**Jasmine : Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.**

**Mournful Stranger : I'm soooooooooooooooo...**

**Marilen : Well?**

**Jasmine : You there, Lief?**

**Doom : Stranger Lief dude?**

** Mournful Stranger : Never mind.**

** Barda What's the name for?**

**Mournful Stranger : I dunno.**

** Doom : I'm thirsty. I'll brb.**

** Jasmine K**

** Sharn : Why is my computer lagging?**

** Sharn : WHY? WHY?**

** Sharn : AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

** Barda : It isn't.**

**Sharn : WHY?**

**Marilen : Stop flooding, Sharnie.**

**Sharn : If you stop calling me Sharn, then yes.**

**Doom : Back. Jasmine, are you in your bedroom? The door's closed.**

**Jasmine : Maybe I am. Dun dun dun...lol**

**Barda : Where are you, Lief?**

**Mournful Stranger : Uh...here. **

**Sharn : lol**

**Doom : Ha hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. t**

**Marilen : What was the "T" for?**

**Doom : My finger slipped.**

**Doom : Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.**

**Jasmine : Shut up...**_**Jarred**_

**Mournful Stranger : Who? What'd u say my...uh...**

**Jasmine : It's his real name.**

**Mournful Stranger : Whose real name?**

**Doom : Unfortunately, mine.**

**Mournful Stranger : Oh. **

**Sharn : What?**

**Mournful Stranger : Nothing.**

**Jasmine : What?**

**Mournful Stranger : I said, NOTHING.**

**Barda : Tell us or we're not your friends anymore.**

**Jasmine : Yeah!  
**

**Mournful Stranger : ((((((((((((**

**Marilen : Doesn't work. Tell us!**

**Mournful Stranger : Why?**

**Doom : Cuz we said so.**

**Mournful Stranger : fine. I accidentally hit my finger on the desk and i stopped typing for a while. happy?**

** Doom : Liar.**

** Sharn : Tell us! Pweeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? puppy dog eyes**

** Mournful Stranger : I've got to go.**

** Barda : Why? Sister bugging you?**

** Mournful Stranger : Why did you say that?**

** Marilen : Barda! How could you say such a mean thing? You know perfectly well about his sister!**

** Barda : Sorry, Lief.**

** Jasmine : I think he left.**

**Mournful Stranger : No, I didn't.**

** Marryme : Hey, cool! I hacked this goddamn thing! I'm in the Coolio Groupo!**

** Doom : Go away!**

**Mournful Stranger : Fine!**

**Doom : Not you!**

**Mournful Stranger : then who?**

**Marryme : who?**

**Doom : YOU! **There was something wrong with Lief's screen, but he didn't notice. He was unable to see what the username **Marryme**typed.**  
**

**Mournful Stranger : What? fine! Goodbye! **Lief exited out and ran away from the computer, slamming the door. He didn't see what happened next. If they were going to act like that, then he wouldn't be friends with them anymore!

**Okay, who completely spaced out during the chat? I hope nobody did. Tell me if it's too long of a chat. SOOOO...what do ya think? reviews help, ya know. am i writing to many fanfics? is Lief too weak at soccer? is Doom too cool? Is jasmine too obvious in her love? I want my questions answered! lol. thanks for reading! Demosthanes---becca-----same person----yea**


	2. Chapter 2: Falling inLike?

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything affiliated or anything about Deltora. Seriously! **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed my story! You guys are awesome! Keep up the encouraging work! Oh, and: WARNING: For this chapter, you might want to have watched the movie **_**Transformers**_** before reading this. If, in the likely case that you haven't watched it:**

**The main character is Sam. He had a little dog named Mojo. He has a severe crush on this pretty girl called Mikela. Also, he gets his first car after getting three As at highschool. His father also makes him pay some of the money for the car. Transformers is about super-advanced robots from this other planet. They're called Auto-bots and they can transform into cars. Sam's car was one of the Autobots. Weird things happen to Sam and Mikela. I don't have time to read this over so I'm sorry if I spelled some stuff wrong. That's all. Good day.**

**Chapter 2: Falling in...Like?**

The next day, Lief walked into school and nearly slammed into Doom while closing his locker.

"Whoa, dude," Doom said. "Still mad?"

"Don't talk to me," Lief snapped.

Doom snorted. "Attitude, dude." Then he paused, pondering. "Hey, that rhymes. Oh yeah, fifty points for the Doom Boom!"

"Man, you are obnoxious!" Lief said, pushing past him. Then he smacked right into...none other than Josephina, that girl who obviously had a severe crush on him.

"Oh, hi there," Josephina giggled, twirling a little and tossing her head. "How are you, Leafy?"

"_Leafy_?" he groaned. "Oh, we are so _not_going there, Josephina."

"Well, anyway, handsome one, wanna hold hands?" She held out a hand.

"Um, to be honest..." Lief shifted to the side, "...not really."

As he ran away, Josephina called back, "You shall never escape from my clutches, Leafy!"

"Yeah, you keep on thinking that," Lief muttered, rolling his eyes. He walked into science class and took a seat at the back, where nobody was sitting...yet.

But then the door burst open and tons of kids came in, including the Cool Group. They immediately went to the back and took seats surrounding Lief. Lief found himself in the middle of Jasmine and Barda.

"Hey, look, Lief," Barda said, leaning in to talk before the science teacher called roll. "You know how you got mad at Doom yesterday?"

"Don't we all?" Lief muttered, doodling Doom being hanged on his science notebook.

"Well, anyway," Barda continued, looking flustered, "your computer must've been messed up or something, because he wasn't talking to you."

Lief squinted at Barda. "Are you...uh...alright?"

"He was talking to that weirdo called "Marryme", okay?" Barda finished. "So anyway, Doom's really sorry, you know?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, he's just the sweetest guy," Lief said sarcastically.

"Mind telling us who is so sweet to you, Lief?" a sharp voice asked, slamming a book down on Lief's desk.

Feeling a mounting dread, Lief slowly looked up. It was Mr. Danhey, the mean science teacher who always seemed to overhear.

"Uh...my uh...my dog!" Lief stammered, and the whole class burst out laughing.

"Oh, really now?" Mr. Danhey said. "Why don't you tell us the name of this sweet guy-dog?"

"Ummmmm...Mojo!" Lief said.

"Now, then?" Mr. Danhey smiled as the class laughed again. "That is not the name of the dog in the movie _Transformers_, is it? Mojo?" 

"I uh...named him after that dog," Lief stammered.

"So, do you like super-advanced robots?" Mr. Danhey asked. "Perhaps you could make a robot for the Science Fair?"

"N-no, sir," Lief mumbled. "I don't like robots."

"What do you like about Transformers, then?"

"Umm...uh...yeah, the guy in it...Sam or something," Lief said, breathing a sigh of relief. "He's uh...funny."

"Hmmmmmmmm," Mr. Danhey pretended to think. "Or maybe you like Sam's girlfriend, Mikela?"

"C-can we be getting on with Science now?" Lief whispered, drained of confidence or power to think.

"Okay," Mr. Danhey said. "Why don't you tell the class a little about super-advanced robots like the ones in Transformers?"

"No thanks," Lief stammered. "Leave me alone, sir."

Mr. Danhey pulled Lief by his sleeve and dragged him to the front of the room. "Start, boy!" he said sharply.

"Um," Lief mumbled. He looked at the Cool Group for help, but Jasmine just shrugged and gave him a thumbs-up.

Great. He wasn't going to get any help. He'd just have to remember everything about robots in Transformers that was scientific...no, there wasn't anything. It was just fiction, after all. He had a lot more to say about the characters, but that'd just be pretty embarrassing.

"Go on," Mr. Danhey urged him.

"I didn't know you watched movies," Lief tried. "After all, you're a science teacher."

"This is irrevelant to what I was talking about, boy!" Mr. Danhey snapped. "Now, have you learned your lesson?"

"Um...sure," Lief said, not really sure what his lesson was.

"Good," Mr. Danhey said, pleased. "Sit down, Lief. And class, please take out your science book, _Advanced Science is Fun!_"

Groaning, the class took out their books. As he made his way to his seat, snickers erupted through the room. Muttering, Lief took out the book and tried to listen to Mr. Danhey.

When lunch finally came, Lief trudged out of math class and, when he got to an empty lunch table, slammed his tray on the table and slammed himself on the seat. Grumbling, he stared at the nasty contents of the lunch.

"Hey," Marilen said as the Cool Group took seats around him. "You got the tables mixed up, but that's okay since you're a newbie and some other guys already took our usual table." 

Lief didn't reply; he gave Doom a murderous glance. Finally, he said, "You told me to go away!"

"I told you to explain to him!" Doom muttered to Barda.

"I did!" Barda protested. "He thinks I'm a liar..."

"Look," Doom sighed, "your screen must've been messed up or something, because I was not talking to you. I was talking to Marry-me or whatever! And if I really did say it, then I'm really sorry!"

"Okay, fine!" Lief said, sighing. "I just want to be friends again."

"Coolio," Jasmine high-fived him. "Now, on to the next topic: Why is Ranesh trying to date Anna?"

"Because she's hot," Doom said. "More than you'll ever be." 

Jasmine stared at him blankly for a moment. The next moment his nose was quite mangled and Jasmine was wiping her hands off on her napkin.

"You've got skills," Lief complimented.

"Well, I try," Jasmine said, blushing. She fluttered her eyelashes at Lief, but he didn't seem to notice because at that same moment Ranesh and a pretty girl that was probably Anna sat down at the table.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Marilen growled. Then she looked around and saw that there were no other lunch tables open. "Oh."

"Well, my little bunny and I had to sit _somewhere_," Ranesh pointed out.

Anna let out a small laugh. "You do _not_ know how much I'm not you're little bunny." 

"You can be _mine_," Barda burst out, and he turned red. "Woops."

"Sorry," Anna said. "I don't dig motor-cycle freaks." Barda loved motor-cycles and had about ten.

Anna tossed her head of beautiful dark hair to her shoulders, and Lief's heart went to his mouth. This girl was _hot_.

"Want to come to my house tonight and do it?" Ranesh asked.

Anna stared at him. "You know, I think...I think I'm done eating." She rose and left, one of her bracelets tinking as she walked away.

"Nice," Sharn laughed. "So...she dumped you?"

"Nah," Ranesh said. "She'll come back. She digs strong arms."

"Meet me at the gym tonight," Barda said to Sharn. "I've got to lift some weights." Everyone laughed.

"So...you still don't have a car yet?" Jasmine asked Lief. "C'mon, you're a sixteen-er like all of us! You're supposed to have a car!" 

Lief rolled his eyes. "I have to get three As, and somehow I think my mom is getting these ideas from the movie Transformers...actually, it looks like everything is going Transformer-like. Sara and Ranesh just said two lines from the movie."

"Creepy," Doom admitted. "But at least you don't have to pay for some of the car."

"Yeah," Lief said. "I just hope the car transforms into some cool one like it did in the movie, if I have to get a bad one." This was followed by laughter.

"So Ranesh, what happened with you and Alice?" Sharn asked. Alice was some other girl in their grade.

"I told her the relationship wasn't working," Ranesh said innocently.

Barda laughed. "Okay, what _really_ happened?"

"She told me she didn't like boys who burped a lot," Ranesh whimpered, and everyone erupted in laughter.

"That sounds more like it," Marilen laughed.

"So Lief, who do _you_ like?" Barda asked. "Camille is _so_ mine, by the way. She's not even close to the hotness of Anna, but who is, anyway?"

"Uh...well...to be honest, Anna," Lief admitted, not seeing how Marilen and Jasmine's faces fell so pitifully.

"I've gotta go," Marilen said, and she ran away so that nobody could see the tears that were starting to fall on her face.

"M-me too," Jasmine whimpered, and she left too.

"Did I say something?" Lief asked worriedly.

Shrugging, Doom dived into a very-messed-up piece of egg with his fork. "Who knows when it comes to girls?"

"Hey," Sharn giggled, punching him so that a small piece of his egg came flying out and landed onto Ranesh's head.

"Oh, you are going to pay!" Ranesh yelled. He stood up, shaking with rage, and he grabbed the so-called "cool Doom who is always so slick and awesome" by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him out of the room.

...Doom was not heard from again that day.

"Ugh, I can't believe I have to get _three_ As to get a car," Lief groaned, looking out the window. Barda was driving him, Sharn, Jasmine, Ranesh and Anna to their houses that day.

"Man, you're missing out," Barda said, turning in his seat while still driving to see Lief. "Driving is one of the coolest things about life, and I'm serious."

"So Anna, coming to my house tonight?" Ranesh asked hopefully, putting a hand on her arm.

Anna immediately pulled her arm back and glared at him. Then, sighing, she stared out the window.

Barda turned on the radio to some weird rock song with plenty of bad words and he and Ranesh began to sing along to it.

"Oh, shut up," Sharn groaned.

"Very well," Barda said, "if you can answer the following questions correctly."

"I hate you!" Jasmine said. "I hate you and your stupid quizes!"

"Att-i-tude," Lief muttered as they pulled up in front of Jasmine's house, where Doom was sitting on the lawn with an icepack over his nose.

"So that's where he ended up," Ranesh laughed. He rolled down the window and called out, "How's our little precious, adorable Doomie doing? He's not so doom-bringing-looking now, is he, Anna?" he asked, jogging her with his elbow.

"Get _off_ of me," Anna hissed, huddling up closer to Lief, who suddenly couldn't take off the silly grin on his face.

Jasmine huffed and slammed the door, and on her way into the house kicked Doom for the fun of it. He howled in pain and pounced on her, but they didn't get to see the rest of it because Barda roared the engine and they took off.

"How old are you?" Lief asked Anna after a long silence in the car.

She moved her pretty purple eyes from the outside to Lief. "Sixteen."

"Oh," he said, and he was too spellstruck to say anything else.

Rolling her eyes, Anna looked the other way. Lief felt like kicking himself.

"You're new here, aren't you?" Anna finally asked him.

"Oh! Oh-" Lief began, quite startled. But she interrutped him before he could finish.

"Is that all you say?" she said, looking amused. "Oh. Oh! Oh..." she looked at him like he was some circus animal, and he felt like disappearing.

_Damn, she's hot_, he thought silently, looking at her with his mouth opened and his head tilted to the side, as if in a trance.

"Well?" she asked. Then, shrugging, she rested her head on Ranesh's shoulder and closed her eyes.

_Damn me_, Lief thought miserably. _I'm falling in...like_.

**THANKS FOR READING! REVIEWS HELP! NO FLAMES AS EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO BE GETTING! L, BECCA (PENNAME: DEMOSTHANES) CYA! **


	3. Chapter 3

** Disclaimer: I don't own Deltora or anything affiliated with Deltora and its characters. **

**A/N: For the upsides, I'm updating fast! Quantity, but quality? To see, read on...**

**Chapter 3: Doom's plan...**

The next day, Lief did cartwheels out of math class, holding his second A in hand. Now there was only English left and after that...well, he really hoped he'd get at least an A-.

They walked into music class where a subsitute teacher told them Mr. Lopez was out sick. They were allowed to have a free time to play whatever instruments they wanted, or they could just talk quietly.

"Talk," Barda muttered when the subsitute finished. Barda walked over to his motorcycle gang and began to talk loudly about hot girls, while Doom, blushing, went over to Sharn. Marilen and Jasmine began to play music on a piano together...Lief was the odd one out.

He watched Sharn and Doom talk, both blushing simultaneously, and he was shocked when Sharn slapped Doom and he walked away with an angry face. Doom, looking rejected, came over and sat by Lief.

"Hey man, all girls are like that," Lief said, remembering Anna yesterday.

Doom shrugged mournfully and pulled out his I-pod. "Wanna share earpieces?" he offered.

"Uh...suure...I mean, no thanks," Lief stammered as he suddenly saw Anna standing alone. "I've gotta go."

"Where?" Doom asked.

"Ummm...that girl over there," Lief mumbled. "I like her. See you, dude." 

"Ahhhhh," he heard Doom say behind him. "Good luck with that one."

Lief casually came to the girl, hoping that she wasn't aware he deliberately came to that spot.

"Hey Anna," Lief said.

Anna slowly turned her head and stared at him. She broke out into a smile, and Lief almost smiled back...until he realized it was a mocking, an amused smile.

"Hey," she said softly, tossing her head a little.

_Oh man_, Lief groaned inwardly, looking at her. She was beauty incarnate.

After a long silence, she said, "Are you going to talk or did you just come to stare?"

Lief's face reddened to a peak that was quite embarrassing. "Oh...uh, yeeeeaah...like, um..."

"Hey Ranesh!" Anna interrupted, and she pushed past him.

Watching her go by, the sad Lief felt Barda clap him on the shoulder.

"Outsmarted you again, did she?" Barda chuckled.

"Yep," Lief sighed. "But sometimes beauty is just so irresistible..."

Barda laughed again. "But then again, beauty is pretty mean." 

"I got an A. Oh yeah! Oh yeah! In your face! Oh yeaaaaaaa!" Lief sang obnoxiously to Doom right after English class.

"That's great, really great, but can you shut up for once?" Doom snapped. He had gotten an F.

"I get a car this weekend! Uh-huh. Oh yeah! Oh yeaaaa!" Lief continued.

"So are you really sixteen?" said a familiar voice behind them.

With a sense of dread, Lief saw Anna leaning against a pillar, dangling her purse around.

"Uh...yeah. Um...why?" Lief stammered, and he saw Doom trying to suppress laughter next to him. Lief felt like kicking the jerk.

"Well, you sound like Ranesh when he gets hurt," Anna said. She walked off, her high high-heels clicking away on the tiles of the hall.

Doom let his small laughs erupt into big guffaws, and Lief slowly turned to him angrily.

"I hate you," Lief said coldly.

"Oh please," Doom said, "you have to admit, that was pretty funny."

"Not to me it wasn't!" Lief snapped back.

"Okay, okay, want some advice?" Doom asked, trying to stop laughing.

"Go ahead, you smelly ass," Lief said, and Doom erupted in laughter again.

"Okay, so you know the movie Transformers? Well, you should do what that guy Sam did, like you seem to be doing all this time."

"Uh-huh," Lief said with a faint idea of what Doom wanted him to do.

"Okay, so this is what you do..." Doom began.

When he was finished, Lief shrugged. "That's going to be pretty hard to pull off, you know."

"Not _really_," Doom said. "Well, good luck, dude, but I've gotta go to Jasmine's recital. See ya!" he high-fived Lief and walked away, still laughing.

"Damn that kid," Lief grinned. He just hoped the plan would work...and if it didn't..._really_ damn Doom.

**Thanks for reading this chapter! There shall be many more! sorry if it was a little short, but i'm going to write a lot of chapters for this story! review and I shall be inspired! **

**-Demosthaenes (Becca)**


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